Matters of Scale - The Hidden Cost of Embodied Energy

Energy used to heat a conventionally built house in Vancouver, Canada, for one year

101 million Btu

Energy used to make and transport the materials to build that conventional house (embodied energy)

948 million Btu

Energy used to heat an energy-efficient house in Vancouver for one year

57 million Btu

Energy used to make and transport the materials to build that energy-efficient house (embodied energy)

1,019 million Btu

Therefore, total energy used to build and then heat a conventional house in Vancouver as of the end of its first year of occupation

1,049 million Btu

…and total energy used to build and then heat an energy-efficient house in Vancouver as of the end of its first year of occupation

1,076 million Btu

But…total energy used to build and then heat a conventional house in Vancouver as of the end of its 30th year of occupation [948 + (30 x 101)]

3,978 million Btu

…and total energy used to build and then heat an energy-efficient house in Vancouver as of the end of its 30th year of occupation [1,019 + (30 x 57)]

2,729 million Btu

Energy required to produce one cubic meter of air-dried lumber

1.2 million Btu

Energy required to produce one cubic meter of plywood

9.4 million Btu

Energy efficiency of a one-mile urban trip by a 2003 Honda Civic, in miles per gallon

32 mpg

Energy efficiency of a one-mile urban trip by bicycle, when the cyclist is fueled by meat (which contains the embodied energy required to produce and transport one mile’s worth of meat energy to the cyclist’s home), according to one analysis

31 mpg

But…energy efficiency of a one-mile urban trip by bicycle when the cyclist is fueled by bread